


Riki of the Revolution

by Thean



Category: Ai no Kusabi
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:15:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thean/pseuds/Thean
Summary: The day after his first encounter with Iason, Riki leaves Amoi for the Commonwealth's main land in order to change Ceres fate.
Relationships: Guy/Riki (Ai no Kusabi), Iason Mink/Riki
Comments: 15
Kudos: 49
Collections: Ai no Kusabi Creative Challenge 2020





	1. Resolution

A voice as deep and cold as the empty infinite space that stretched behind the thick hermetic window before his eyes kept resonating unpleasantly in his mind on a loop.

_“When you miss your mark, is it your practice to pick someone up and make your money that way?”_

It only happened the day before, and Riki couldn’t stop the voice repeating the sentence, again and again, neither could he avoid the mocking freezing blue gaze that imposed on him everytime he closed his own eyes. And the worst in it, the thing he just couldn’t accept was that it was all his fault. He decided to ignore Guy’s advice to go back with the rest of them when they already had reach the sum of money they needed for their project, he get caught, risking the entire thing, then he didn’t stop there to enjoy his luck and brought by himself the Blondie to the love hotel to suffer this humiliation - honestly, what did he expect? Well, he had no idea, but certainly not that - and finally, ashamed and unable to quiet down, he decided to don’t spend this last night with his pairing partner. Would the last time he had sex stay this unbearable episode, the only time he invited - yes, he truly “invited” him, what an idiot! And the Blondie had known how to make him feel like one - someone else than his unique lover, for all his journey? He had to put it out of his head once and for all and focus on his mission.

_“Unfortunately, I am not so whimsical that I would choose to lay my hands on slum trash like yourself. I have better things to do with my time.”_

He gritted his teeth. The mission before everything else. If anybody caught him being where he was right now it wouldn’t only mean failure but also possibly the end of his miserable life. For real this time, not “only” a shameful humiliation like the one he suffered the night before. Well… maybe death would be more bearable at least. Not that he would especially ask for it either. Leaving aside the fact that infiltrating the ship without anyone noticing him at Midas spaceport had already asked him a lot of work and that he didn’t want to stupidly waste it.

_“Why should disciplining and ill-bred, thick-skulled mongrel require the removal of my clothes?”_

_Shut up._

Riki felt his cheeks flushing while shame overwhelmed him. He had to restrain himself to don’t let his anger get the best of his self-control and stay still. Hopefully, the expression on his face looking to the window wouldn’t scare the other passengers. He had to stay discreet, not catching attention by throwing objects or hitting walls or random people in the spaceship full of tourists back from Midas he was in. Or making faces. They were all busy with their new pets or smut pictures from holidays, but if he did anything that could make them noticing that a slum mongrel was travelling with them, he was off to a bad start. Because yes, as the Blondie had said, he was nothing more than a “slum trash” in the eyes of the rest of the universe. Though, if his mission succeeded, maybe he could make this assertion being a little less true. So he just clenched his fists, pretending he was standing it.

To help himself, he tried to think about the expression the Blondie would have if he succeeded. Making him falling from his piedestal, even just a little, erasing this smug smile from his face. Yes, it was better this way. Less condescension and some humility wouldn’t be bad for him. He had no illusions about the hope to see this face again, especially in an humble state, and a nasty tiny voice in his head told him it was incredibly pretentious from himself to even think of it, but the idea still gave him some strength back and, compressing into his hand the odd coin the stranger had carelessly thrown to him before leaving, he swore that at least he would make everything for it to become true. He tried hard to ignore the fact he usually wouldn't care less for the fate of people who considered themselves as his enemies. But not for this guy. Not that a Tanagura Blondie would see a mere slum mongrel as a person worth being his enemy of course. But could it change? The whole situation had probably been nothing more than a joke for him and he had probably already forgotten everything to return to his fancy life. Unlike Riki. Shit.

_“And here is your change. For the hush money. You’re right. Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”_

His new resolution, as naive as it may look, enabled him to bear the painful memory of the night before without physically expressing his frustration, but it didn’t erase it either and, waiting for the ship to arrive at the main planet of the Commonwealth, he had nothing else to do that living it again in his head on a loop, increasing his hatred and resolution each time.

He didn’t know if he would see the man ever again, but if he did, next time, he will be sure to make him pay the change, in the style of Ceres.

Two days later, a colorful stain came piercing the monotonous emptiness of space and began to grow to become a planet of which he could see the more and more details. Riki, impressed both by the view and by his task in this new place, hold his breath. For the first time of his life, he was about to discover another land than Amoi. And after two days stuck in the ship, he couldn’t wait to breath fresh air again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This peculiar chapter will count for the #ankcreativechallenge prompt "Somewhere Else". Hope you like it!


	2. Ceres in waiting

So Riki had left.

All of their hope for a better world rested upon his mission. If Riki succeeded, then a new future full of dreams and possibilities would open to them. If he didn’t, the paltry hopes they had enjoyed these few last months would be lost, returning to ashes and plunging them into a new despair gulf, even deeper than the one they were used to before that. Because of it, and also to let more chances to success for this mission which couldn’t have stood any leak to Midas or Tanagura, only a few people knew about it. Actually, it was only the main members of Bison – Luke, Sid, Norris and, of course, Guy – , only people that Riki trusted. Given the situation, Guy could only approve. Too many things depended of it. They all understood it well enough.

Of course, Riki had wanted to be the one leaving for the mission, and they all agreed on it since him, more than any other, knew how to handle things his own way. And he clearly was the more reliable person for what they needed. Still, of course, Guy had only given his approval reluctantly, knowing this as well as he knew that it was the kind of topic for which Riki wouldn’t listen to his worries. He had always wanted to protect him – if not from physical pain that he could both avoid or endure, then from psychological one – and he was dead worried at the idea that his pairing partner was so far away from him for the first time, in some unknown world, surrounding by people who had the right to kill him just if they came to know about his identity as a Ceres inhabitant.

And yet, it wasn’t what bothered Guy the most about this business.

Riki, for one reason or another, didn’t come to sleep with him for the last time after their excursion to Midas the day before. His worries about it had kept Guy awake the whole night. Did Riki’s whim to stay “a little longer”, specifically this evening while he knew the journey that was waiting for him the day after, led him to some disaster? Should Guy have insisted more on going home together? No, knowing Riki it would have been for nothing. Still, he may have stayed with him at least. This way, they would have spent more time together before the separation and maybe he could have prevented whatever could have happened for Riki to don’t come back to him at this moment.

But in the morning, Riki was there, at the exact spot they had planned for their goodbyes. When Guy saw him, more than his own relief, it was the shadow casted upon his lover’s face which dissuaded him from lecture him about the worries that had haunted his night. The shadow had disappeared as soon as Riki had spotted him, but cleary his smile was nothing more than a mask put in his face to avoid more worries. Instead of what it only reinforced it. Guy had felt as if he had something caught in his throat and it had left him speechless. Whatever happened during the previous day and the night, Riki didn’t look as if he wanted to talk about it. His farewells had sounded like an order: “Believe that everything is okay and don’t worry!”. It wasn’t an order he could obey, but he had acted as if he did. But still now, a deep awkwardness feeling tortured him from the inside and he wondered if he did well. Of course, he couldn’t talk about it to any other person. Not only it would have been a violation of his partner’s will, but he was conscious that it wouldn’t have been good to add panic to the tension that his friend's waiting created in their hearts for the mission their leader had to deal with.

Maybe he worried for nothing. But he knew that this hypothesis was only here to reassure himself and permit him to deal with his job as Riki’s substitute in Bison. Hot Crack being theirs already, they didn’t have to deal with it anymore – even if it now looked piddling compared to what their new plans were – but they had to keep the place. And without their leader it was an especially hard task for which he would need his whole energy. Keeping the illusion for Riki’s presence could stand a few days maybe, but rumors would begin to spread among the Slums quickly enough and the gangs which were only waiting in the shadows for the Varja to disappear from the game would rush toward what looked like the remainings of his power soon enough to try their luck on them.


	3. The mongrel who escaped the Blondy's sight

For a Tanagura Blondy, a mere Slum Mongrel was nothing to worry about, only trash usefully used to keep control on Midas inhabitants. And yet, Iason Mink had nothing but the sight of this black-eyed one in his mind.

Everything began some weeks earlier. In an unusual whim, he had decided to walk in Sasan (area 8) streets to go to meet some businessmen from the borderland district of Laocoon. Raoul had thought it was an useless detour, but he had followed. Iason himself didn’t know what had pushed him to take this way, especially by feet, this peculiar day.

Neither did he know what pushed him to stop the hand of the mongrel who was about to steal a mere tourist. He was conscious that this kind of thing happened every day. Those who needed to take profit in the tourists’ stupid naivety for their own survival just did it, and he knew that it was the only way to keep the threat of the Slums alive for those Tanagura had to control. Yet, on a whim, he had decided to take action against this peculiar move. Was is because the boy, even just next to him, had been so focused on his task that he didn’t even realise his almighty presence? He usually didn’t have to do anything for people to bow in respect and admiration wherever he went, it was just normal. Did the fact to be ignored like that for the first time in his life bothered him so much? Still, his pride couldn’t stand the thought that he had wanted this much to be seen by a boy who was nothing else than trash. No, there was probably something else about it.

Fact was that the boy’s insolence and audacity had awakened his curiosity, as much as his body which could compete without issue with any of Raoul’s creation. His colleague wouldn’t have liked the comparison, and he could understand why: it wasn’t something he expected to find in a mere Slum Mongrel.

Anyway, putting this boy in his place had been quite pleasing and he had found something that could kill his boredom for a moment if he could reiterate the experience. Or so he thought.

He had given him an Aurora coin before leaving and had wanted to know when it would appear on the black market. Of course, a Slum Mongrel couldn’t think of not selling an object of this value, it was probably the fortune of his life. And yet, one month later, he still had no news from the coin. It was even worse than that actually. More and more curious about the boy, he had asked Katze to find him and make him work to test him more. But for the first time since he had put him on the Black Market, Katze had failed his task. He could have taught him who he was, but Riki, chief of gang and idol in Ceres, was nowhere to be found. Even when, by an incredible whim, he decided to look for him by himself, it looked like the boy had simply vanished from the world.

This fact created a feeling of loss of control in Iason, which was unbearable, unacceptable and enthralling at the same time.

This mystery, touching his pride to the core as the head of the black market who could control everything that happened on Amoi, only made him becoming more obsessed. He had to solve this puzzle. His only thought was now to find and catch this mirage into his hands again. More than just playing with him as he had first intended to, it was now to make him submit, and by this way to make disappear the only thing that challenged his power and escaped his control in this little world that was Amoi.


	4. Bright New World

Riki knew that he had to go slowly and be careful on this new planet. Still, being far away from Amoi for the first time in his life, he felt enthralled by everything that surrounded him in here, and staying quiet turned out to be hard. Hopefully, this world was full of tourists from every corner of the civilised world, and the cast system that discriminated Slum Mongrels on his homeland didn’t exist here. It’s not that there was no poverty and no discrimination either – these kinds of things would exist forever in any place men could assert their power on each other – but nobody could be beaten to death just because he walked on the street. Still, Riki didn’t really want to know what would happen to a clandestine migrant if the authorities found out about him. Could he play the political refugee card? It was a question he’ll have to answer quickly to fulfill his mission. Because of course, he wasn’t here for tourism. All what he needed was to know enough about this planet to be able to take action. Hopefully, he wasn’t the kind of person who would stay enchanted for a too long time by novelty: he could quickly pass from amazement caused by a new situation to boredom for something he already knew.

The first thing he had to do when the ship landed was to go through customs without being noticed. The thought that unlike on Amoi he didn’t know about this new place’s geography had given him some chills, but he had thought that he was perfectly able to do again what he had already done to sneak in the ship, and so he had succeeded without any issue.

Then, he had to find a way to fulfill his vital need: a place to crash and a way to eat. He had money that the black market had given them before his departure for some credit cards, but he had no idea of how worth Midas money would be here. He would probably have to change it for some other currency, but once again he wasn’t sure that his lack of id wouldn’t be a problem. He didn’t know how long he would stay here, he didn’t know a single thing about this world yet, and if possible, he would prefer to spare this money for now.

The best way to learn what he had to and this way to find a way to fulfill his needs was to explore his surroundings first. The morning sun sparkled in a bright warm light and he had the day before him. The food he had pinched on the ship could certainly last until the day after.

The core of the Commonwealth was a full-inhabited planet. As if the mere cm² couldn’t be wasted, the spaceport was surrounded by the buildings constituting the giant city. Because of it, transports weren’t needed to be instantly immersed in its activity and it suited Riki very well. He began to stroll on the big main boulevard, looking around him in amazement, wondering if he actually looked like one of the tourists he used to steal back in Midas. The difference was that if his head was in the clouds of discovery, his feet, them, were firmly on the ground. That he let himself enjoying his journey didn’t mean that he dropped his guard.

Far away from the lust which lurked everywhere in Midas, Pride seemed to shine everywhere he could put his eyes on. Sellers and buyers were bargaining in every colorful shop he could see – and it didn’t seem to have an end to it –, the great publicities panels presented music and politic idols as much as new technological products et luxurious items – he could just spot two or three of them which promoted Midas or pets from Amoi’s high-class market –, people were smiling – not the corrupted smile you could find on their face when they visited Midas Pleasure Quarters, but true happy ones –, even the crowd’s brouhaha sounded joyful. Of course, all of it could have been nothing more than an illusion created by his good mood, but for an instant, Riki forgot about the mission to just enjoy the fact of being here.

Around midday, he sat on a bench in a square as busy as the rest of the city and snacked a sandwich he had taken from the ship which had led him here. He had walked all the morning in this crowd without end, half dreaming eyes opened, and it was time to take action to find a place where he could sleep and a network which would permit him to learn more about how the place worked and find a way to contact the Commonwealth government without being rejected. He had a long way to go with it and didn’t want to waste any more time by walking without any goal in mind.

His lunch over, he walked to one of the numerous side-streets he had seen during the morning. His common sense told him that there was something in common with Midas and Ceres in the way the streets worked here and if he couldn’t just show himself at the door of the Commonwealth palace, background networked seemed already a lot more familiar to him. He would find a way to deal with the street’s inhabitants in this world.

Beginning to save some people’s ass in a fight, he succeeded in making acquaintances which would serve his goal. The first people he met this way weren’t a big deal. They were generally homeless, but they knew other people and this way he could begin to spin his network.

An important period of this process was when he went in contact in the little hands of the local black market. It permitted him to change his money without the stress that would cause the idea to use a legal way to do so and he even could work with them as an independent courier from time to time. It was a very enthralling period for a Slum Mongrel who used to rot in Ceres all day long, since he could now learn new things everyday. He had met some difficulties dealing with stuff he hadn’t been trained for, but he persevered with all his soul and somehow succeeded to improve. He was asked more and more often to do jobs for them and it was a big source of joy and pride, but he knew that his goal wasn’t to rise to the top in the black market and regretfully he had to decline some offers, especially when it asked him to leave the planet. In other conditions, he could have really thrown himself into this job, but he had to restrain himself and continue to gather information and spin his network. Even if the mission sometimes looked like a pain in the ass and that he would have gladly forgotten about it to live his life as he had now the full opportunity to do, he knew that he would have felt guilty toward Guy and the others if he had done so. He also knew that some other motivations, darker and more bitter, pushed him to continue this way.

He eventually met a journalist from a gutter press paper someday and at this moment his true work really began.

The guy was genuinely interested in his origins as a slum mongrel from Amoi and looked like he was one of the very few eccentrics who wanted to change things for Ceres. Riki had avoided talking about his mission to anybody until now, but even if he was reluctant to do it even now, he also knew that he had to make an ally of this man. He represented the opportunity he had looked for these last few months.

Dave – it was the journalist's name – showed himself being excited by the project and they spent several days talking about it. Riki would guide him and protect him in Amoi so he could make a report about Ceres' situation in order to raise awareness among other worlds’ populations by creating a scandal. Riki didn’t like it, but he also knew that he wouldn’t get anything if he didn’t accept the assistance he needed.

Though, it would still be easy for Tanagura to avoid it if they came to know about it now. So before all of it, for Ceres to be recognised legally, they should build their own structures – a spaceport in priority – and buy a seat in the Commonwealth assembly. Riki had no idea of how to build such a thing, and he didn’t think that they would find someone to do it in Ceres, especially without raising suspicions too early, so it was decided that he would take care of the political part first. Dave knew someone, a little politician who would permit him to take the first step. But before that, he had some advice for Riki. It was embarrassing, but there was no point in hiding the truth from him.

“I know that you know how to take care of yourself Riki, but neither physical strength nor even intelligence will be enough in political grounds here.”

The young man looked at him, uncertain of how to take it.

“What do you mean? What else do I need?”  
“You need social support from other politicians to climb the ladder and have a chance to be accepted and heard. Remember that Tanagura is very powerful even here. Even if you can just buy your seat at the assembly, it wouldn’t mean a lot of you don’t have allies. It’s a very corrupted circle.”  
“So I guess I’ll have to behave well?”

Riki’s lips twisted ironically while he was saying it. He wasn’t sure of his ability to “behave well”, but he could try. If there were any boring politeness rules to respect, he could learn it.

“Yes, this too. But for a new guy like you, there are two ways you can use to be accepted. The first one is money, but it will already be good if you can buy your place at the assembly, even with your part-time job at the black market and your economies, I'm not sure that you have enough even just for it. The second one is sex.” 

Dave had said it without hesitation, but he looked awfully awkward. It was almost cute to see. He would certainly need a guide and personal guard when he’ll go to Amoi. Riki wondered how he had grown up to finish this shy about the topic.

Anyway, it was a secret for nobody that the mongrel from Ceres had picked a fight – and win – every time that somebody inappropriately tried to become too intimate with him. Which had been pretty often since the day he had appeared in the local streets.

“Damn, you certainly make a big deal about it.”

He had said it jokingly, but his stomach twisted. The two icy blue eyes which haunted his thoughts since the day he had met that Blondy in Midas had imposed on his mind. It was also one of the reasons why he didn’t hesitate to take that path to fulfil his goal while. He didn’t like the idea to have sex to succeed, it was something repulsive, but he also knew that he probably didn’t really have the choice if it was what it taked to reach his goal. Though, if it had been only about Ceres, if this episode without the Blondy never happened, he would probably have just forgotten about all of it and continued his happy life here. Of course it wasn’t a fact he could admit, even to himself.

The lost of control he had experienced this day some months ago still tortured him as soon as he had a little time for himself and he was still living it again and again on a loop into his head. It wasn’t really the man’s unacceptable behavior that made his teeth grinding, but the Blondy didn’t lose his cool a single instant. And himself, on the other hand… _“No! I’m not like that! It’s not who I am!”_. He just didn’t understand his own reactions back then and couldn’t accept that it had been him.

And now, he just hoped that it wouldn’t happen again if he had to do it with some Commonwealth politicians. Maybe he could afford going to war against a Blondy if he could get their help – even if he would have prefered to do it on his own, he was realistic enough to know that is was not an option –, but putting them all off of their pedestal would be even harder, if not impossible. Still, his pride wouldn’t stand it.

“I need some fresh air.”

He left Dave’s place and went walking in the streets, his thoughts focused on the man of his nightmares. Why couldn’t he just forget about him already and work for Ceres instead of his own revenge desire? Not that it would change a lot of things in his actions – it could even give him more motivation actually – but the fact that the guy had probably forgotten all about him pissed him off.

“Well, if he has forgotten then I’ll make him remember.”

The moonless night sky was the only witness of this promise.

Two months had been enough for him to climb the social ladder of politics to buy a place for Ceres in the Commonwealth and truly begin to make things change. As Dave had told him, he had to have sex with some people, but it hadn’t been a big deal. Until now, it had always been the affair of one night only, and the few who had wanted to get more than that had to deal with the next man, alway more powerful. Fearing for themselves, they quickly gave up. He had been pretty lucky. Anyway, he didn’t have to live again the humiliation he had suffered with the Blondy. Riki wasn’t at ease with it at all, he really felt tired of all the corruption he had to take part in and wondered if taking this path wasn’t betraying himself, but as hard as it was he did it nonetheless, focusing on his goal.

Far from a just “one-night affair”, his current “sugar daddy” was pretty influential at the assembly and he had used it to offer him a chance to finally reach his goal. They didn’t really love each other of course, but the man didn’t pretend and he didn’t look down on him either. Instead of it, he provided him with all of the advice and information he could give. It was almost only professionnal, and more than enough for Riki.

For the first time in almost one year, he could contact Guy. He hesitated for one second before actually making the call, realising that even if he missed him a lot, he wasn’t sure to want to listen to his voice for real. It was a weird twisted feeling, probably due to the fact that his thoughts had been more focused on his mission – which he judged normal – and the remembrance of the Blondy – which was really annoying – and had spared a little time for his unique lover.

Still, there was no point in trying to avoid what had to be done and he eventually took care of it. Guy’s excited tone of voice made him want to hang up the call, but feeling guilty about this thought he didn’t. He told him about the situation and gave him the work he had to take care of. Then, he was about to hang up for real, heavy-hearted, when his lover asked:

“Riki, is everything all right?”

Of course, he had let him feel that it wasn’t. In a cowardly way, he decided to pretend that it was and began to tell him about all of the wonderful new things that he had discovered during the ten last months. He felt himself relieved as he was doing so and it convinced Guy too, but he also knew that deep into his heart, a shadowed had grown that now stood between the two of them. He still could pretend as much as he wanted that it didn’t exist, but it wouldn’t change the facts.


	5. Dark Surprising Ceres

Iason cut the communication with Katze and leant back in his chair, thoughtful. It had been some days since Ceres had been especially active for some reason, and he didn’t manage to really understand it. He had learnt only today that apparently, slum mongrels were constructing some buildings.

Why? In the decades that had followed the miserable revolution attempt which had lead to the creation of this zone, which was since then so useful to control Midas’ human population, Tanagura’s influence had only grown in the shadows of their so-called “enemies” and their descendants. Today, the hidden truth was that they were in their claws, even if it was unconscious of course, enjoying a fake liberty. Some of them used it only to fight with all of their strength for the illusion to be the one who would have the privilege to be locked in a more comfortable cage by becoming a Midas citizen. Not that it was possible for real, but dreams kept the threat they represented to the actual citizens alive. Those who didn’t act this way didn’t act at all and were as good as dead. The threat they represented was as good as the others’. Everything had worked according to Tanagura’s plans. Until now. Why did these Mongrels suddenly feel the need to fight again, how did they find the power and the will to organise themselves to build something, whatever it was?

And what was it? Despite the gravity of the situation, Iason couldn’t restrain his curiosity. What were they doing? Why were they doing it? Did they have a leader, help from outside? Who, then? Did Tanagura’s influence in the Commonwealth’s world was not as important as what they had thought? The idea was frightening, but Iason also felt some excitement when he thought about the challenge it represented. With a threat like this one, Raoul may stop bothering him about stuff without importance. Him taking a pet for more than 3 months would certainly not be his priority anymore. For once, they would agree that there could be more important actions to take at the moment.

Yet, all of this idea wasn’t only about curiosity and excitement, far from it. He was definitely glad of this new challenge in a personal level, but paradoxically, he felt profoundly annoyed that something like this was even possible. His pride as a Blondy could just not tolerate the threat. At this precise moment, he would have probably just destroyed every last proof of the existence of the one who was responsible for this situation if he had been in front of him. Or maybe his sadistic mind would have just destroyed what made him able to act and he would have just kept him prisoner until the moment his body still living without his soul would have bother him. Then, he would have given him to Raoul for him to transform what remained to a sex doll, if it was worth it of course. This way, it would have its utility on the market and wouldn’t only be wasted. Well… if a responsible person existed indeed. But there was probably one, people didn’t wake up from decades of apathy at the same time on their own. He just had to find him.

He focused on the image of the black-haired boy which had been in his mind during all the time he had thought about the issue with Ceres, or to be more exact which has never completely left his mind during the past year, but had been even more present everytime that it was question of Ceres. It had always been here, like a ghost. A ghost which was hard to find. In one whole year, he didn’t have obtained any clue of his location. Was it possible that he had quit the planet? He was his first personal Ceres mystery. Was he linked to the Slum’s activities? Even more than that, was he the leader? It wouldn’t have surprised him.

The leader of Bison, the most influential gang in Ceres, had disappeared just after their encounter, letting his crew deal with the other gangs as they could during the year. Crew that actually participated actively to the work of the “independent” zone that was now becoming a little too “independent” to his taste.

Once again, he saw the burning passion, the rage reflected in these dark eyes, his effrontery in from of a Tanagura Blondy this day one year ago.

A smile came to Iason’s lips. He was sure to know who was his culprit. He knew he could act. And more than that, he knew he only had to be patient before seeing “Riki” again. The script would certainly be a little different that the one he would have wanted, but it made things even more interesting. Waiting for this moment, he would only have to play his Blondy role.


	6. Lead to build

After one whole year, Guy heard Riki’s voice again, and with good news. The joy of knowing that he was okay had dissuaded him to lecture him about his long silence, but he had wanted to give him news himself about the situation in Ceres, which unfortunately wasn’t that good. Riki missing was now a very well known fact in the Slums and the Maddox had pressured Bison a lot recently and seriously threatened the leader place in Ceres. Guy didn’t know if he could continue like this, especially when a few other gangs were following the Maddox exemple. Without Riki, it was just a too hard task to do.

But the missing leader of Bison didn’t seem to care at all about his gang’s fate. As Guy had tried to tell him about the facts, he had just nonchalantly dismissed his worries as if it was of no importance and continued, exposing his plan for the following actions he wanted Guy to take. Riki had made clear that he was now above Ceres’ little power fights. And for now, his “second in command” having docilely followed his instructions, everything worked just as planned. To his surprise, even the Maddox had accepted to follow Guy’s (or more exactly Riki’s) lead, which didn’t have suppressed his worries at all.

It wasn’t only that Riki looked above his own worries, but he was now able to predict the following situation in Ceres and lead from a distance while they were still blind to their own actions. Or had it always been like that, and the current situation just throwed the fact into his face? It would be a lie to say that Riki had once look in the same direction, at the same level as he did. Anyway, more than only physically, he now looked very far away from him in mind. And Guy was completely scared that this fact came to his pairing partner’s mind and that he would definitely lose his place at his side. A place he greedily wanted to keep for himself and for which he would rather die than letting it go to someone else. A guilty secret he intended to keep firmly hidden in his heart.

Hope had returned to Ceres for the first time in decades and people had quickly gathered to work together on the spaceport building and streets-cleaning. The place that some days earlier was still a gangs warzone which looked like a garbage dump was now filled with a real community spirit focused on one same goal and the rubbish mountains already looked less high and disgusting.

What hurt was also that he was now aware of Riki’s invisible presence everywhere he went, despite his absence. Riki wasn’t here with him - because he was currently fulfilling a very important mission that would save them all instead of taking care of their pairing, he didn’t take the time to give news for the whole year - avoiding giving clues that could have been intercepted by Tanagura, and Guy had to follow a lead he couldn’t understand - but without Riki’s lead, the project would fail for sure and Guy didn’t have a choice if he wanted to keep his dear place. He felt completely lost, but he had to continue anyway, and hide his distress the best he could. He somehow felt like a greedy coward who took a mission too big for himself, but it wasn’t as if Riki would have listened even if he talked to him about the issue anyway.

Of course, things weren’t as good as really everyone followed the lead. Some people still openly mocked the new tendency to “building illusions”, and others acted more in the shadows with the hope to win Tanagura’s favours. Because, of course, their action couldn’t be unknown by their giant oppressive neighbors. Still, the metallic city had done nothing yet, neither did Midas. The citizen of the Pleasure quarters may look with an half-hidden envy what the could perceive of the new activity in the Slums, but they were still too scared to lose their citizenship to go there and really act against it. However, Slum Mongrels had more than ever to be very careful when they went to their territory. The Vigilante Corps had now made a duty to kill strictly every Slum Mongrel that would be seen outside of Ceres. Prudence was more then ever a requirement during Midas raids to get credit cards or others.

And of course, when Guy had to go and meet in Sasan with the journalist Riki had sent to him, he had carefully prepared his excursion.He had refused Sid’s proposition to take one or two bodyguards, judging it more discreet to just be on his own, prepared the path he would take and took clothes that made his feel like a clown but which would potentially identify him as a tourist more than a Slum Mongrel.

He found him near the door to Midas’ spaceport and they came back to Ceres across Midas by blending in with the crowd. He had been a little nervous about meeting with Dave, but the guy was easy-going and genuinely interested in Ceres’ inhabitants fate, and he quickly became more at ease with him. They joined Luke and together they lead him across the Slums and showed him the work they were accomplishing there. Dave took a lot of notes, pictures and videos, and then began to interview them, making him nervous once again.

The question about their pickpocket work in Midas was a delicate one, but they had anticipated it.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t independent at all and had to do this kind of thing to survive. It was the only way. But as you could see a little earlier, we are currently working on changing things, giving a new hope to people for them to finally build something so we won’t have to live as parasites anymore. After the Revolution, Midas and Tanagura had all the tools and we had none. We were a baby nation isolated on a deserted planet, which couldn’t grow until today. We won’t say sorry to our neighbors who are the ones who created this situation in the first place by cutting our links with the rest of the Commonwealth, but we are definitely sorry for the tourists who had to pay for our own issues. Ceres citizen are hard workers, and we will definitely pay our debts as soon as we can.”

Once he had finished to talk, Guy turned to Luke, and saw in his eyes that he was as proud as himself about this speech.


	7. Katze's failure

The situation in Ceres had quickly gotten out of control and Katze had to take radical measures. He hired several mongrels to sabotage the efforts of their kind, placing bombs, causing fights and tarnishing the image that they gave to the journalists. But the few David’s allies who still could change sides didn’t sell their soul as cheap as before to Goliath and Katze had to pay more money than what he expected, and not for the best results.

At first, taking such measures had made him sick. Seeing so much improvement and hope in the place he came from made him want to fulfill it. But he had a job, and this job couldn’t suffer things going this way. He had to serve Tanagura and his master, no matter what. Still, the paradox created by the mix of his feelings and his duty left him with a strong sick and sad feeling.

But then, Ceres had reacted to the attacks he had launched against them with an impressive diplomacy. Things that had been destroyed had been built again, places evacuated before every explosion with a “lives before rocks” spirit display, fights had ended up with taking care only of those who started it and the journalists had the sight of people who were oppressed, but who didn’t react to violence by violence, preferring a lot of constructive civility instead. Everything they had wanted to avoid. And seeing his wish fulfilled, Katze had feared for himself and felt guilty toward the one who had offered him the life he could live now. And his thoughts became focused on one single man who seemed to have permitted all of this diplomacy: Guy.

This mongrel had for a long time been the second in command of the biggest gang of the Slums. It was probably this way that he had learnt how to act in a diplomatic way, even if what he did now exceeded all the expectations about his abilities in the matter. Co-leading a gang, as influential as it was, was different than changing the habits and making obey and behave those who, for some of them, had probably been his enemies not even a year before.

And, of course, there was a missing piece. The real leader of Bison, the one everyone called “The charisma of the Slums”, of the “Varja”, was nowhere to be seen. Katze had never met him, but he had lately heard about him by the most unexpected way: Iason had asked him to find information about him, and then to find him. But he had tried to execute this last task in vain. Riki was nowhere to be found. And Iason had finished to ask him to stop searching. Did it have a link with what was going on in Ceres? It wouldn’t be very surprising.

Slum mongrels escaping from Tanagura’s hand without even knowing how much they had been controlled by it could almost have been comical, if it didn’t have been so dangerous for himself.

And of course, when Iason called him to talk about his new failure, he didn’t laugh at all. He explained the situation the best he could, with a professional tone but his heart beating very fast into his chest. He had sent people to slay Guy, but, once again, without success.

_“I thought you would be more skillful than that. Do you hold your hand back to be soft to your kind?”_

Katze didn’t answer. There was nothing to say. But his heart ached. He didn’t want to disappoint Iason. First because he was still grateful for the luck he had given him. Then because doing his work well was his pride. And finally because he still cowardly didn’t want to die.

But Iason just asked him to stop the attempts, including against Guy, and take action to hide Tanagura’s activities in Guardian. With Judd Kuger’s help, they moved everything in other hidden places, just letting the children and staff. The task was huge, but they succeeded in doing it without triggering suspicion, not from Guardian’s or Ceres’ inhabitants, neither from the journalists.

Still, his last failures stayed stuck in Katze’s throat. If only this Guy wasn’t there...


	8. Riki's return

Guy was waiting with the rest of Bison in the newly built spaceport which was about to be inaugurated by an official ship that would also bring Riki back to him. More than a year after his departure, they were finally about to be together again and, more than the idea of the big event they were making happen, it was that that made him feel impatient and a little worried – in a different way than the way he had been during the months that had preceded this moment. The Riki who had left him was already a little different than the usual Riki. More than a whole year building a project of this scale abroad must have changed him a lot too… would it be for the best, for him to be the good old Riki, or would it put some more distance between them? Guy was afraid to know the answer to this question. He knew that Riki had always been a shooting star, always aiming for something more than what he could have and evolving with his ambitions. He had always aimed for more than anything that Guy had ever wanted. Yet, Guy would do anything to prove the opposite and to be by Riki’s side once again.

When the spaceship finally appeared, he held his breath. He was still holding it when it landed and that Riki, along with some other people who all looked very serious and official, appeared at the door and went on Ceres’ ground. For the first time in one whole year. Riki looked very well. He didn’t look to be out of place in the middle of the other ones. It took a moment to Guy to notice that his clothes, even if black – of course – and discreet, also looked pretty expensive. Maybe not as much as the other ones, but he didn’t know a thing about the topic, so he couldn’t be sure. Anyway, more than ever, more than in Guardian or Ceres, Riki looked like he was where he belonged among all of these wealthy strangers.

In the middle of the welcoming ovation from Ceres inhabitants (which didn’t call themselves “Slum Mongrels” anymore to Riki’s demand who found it too degrading for free people), his lover arrived at his level with a mocking smile:

_“Hey, I know that I’m stunning, but don’t forget to breathe!”_

Oh. Yes. Of course.  
But as he was about to smile in return and relax, enjoying the moment, Riki was already introducing him and the rest of Bison to his new “friends” and Guy remembered that he had been asked to keep the affection show for later. So he forced himself to remain serious and showed the works that had been done in the Area to both Riki and the newcomers. These men were cold, but still cordial. And they looked satisfied with his work. They would probably help Ceres to develop now. Riki was back, the mission was a success.

His only worry was about Tanagura. He strongly hoped that nothing would be done to destroy his work during this night. Some attacks had already been managed during the building, and even if the culprits didn’t have been completely identified, their neighbors certainly were suspects. He also knew that several of his hideouts had been searched and he had taken a habit in changing the place he slept every night.  
An attack on the first official Commonwealth delegation sent on Ceres would certainly be bad for business.

The visit finished without any new accident and they all finished at the Soraya bar. The best and most expensive drinks had been prepared for the occasion. Without any hallucinogenic, to make a good impression on their guests.

The day had been a success, but even if he forced himself to behave and continue the good impression, Guy’s mood didn’t match. Riki was here, just in front of him, having fun with everyone, looking even more far away from where he had been during the past year. With other friends, in a social world that wasn’t his. He could only pretend to follow his path, without really feeling like a part of this new group.


End file.
